Soul Eater: Black Moon
by BloodyBrilliant00
Summary: Even though Asura has been locked away on the moon, the result of his madness continues to cause havoc in the world. As ancient powers emerge to take advantage of the chaos, only a unified group of weapons and meisters can hope to keep order intact. Rated T for some mild cursing and violence. Mostly action and comedy, but a bit of romance may be included in the future.
1. Chapter 1

Soul Eater: Black Moon

The blade sunk deep into the gaping mouth, prying the clown's jaw open even wider than it's normally grotesque angle. The depraved creature had been mid-cackle as Maka Albarn had plunged her death scythe, Soul "Eater" Evans, into it's face, which was now sunken and bloodied. Maka wore a satisfied smirk on her face as the clown writhed on the ground, dying. Soul transformed from a weapon back into his usual form, a white-haired, scraggly looking teenager, and gave her a thumbs up.

"Nice job." Soul congratulated. "We took him down without even having to use Witch Hunter. I guess I'm finally getting the hang of being a death scythe." His hands instinctively went to his jacket pockets as Maka approached the clown. It was coughing as blood filled it's lungs and it sputtered when Maka stepped on it's tentical-entwined torso.

"Even though we've stopped the Kishin, these clowns are never going to give up are they?" Maka frowned. She pushed her boot harder, causing more pained gasping from the monster. Maka's frown turned to a look of surprise when the clown's jaw moved with a bone-breaking crack.

"As long as there is order, the madness will persist." It hissed. The ominous words were accompanied by the clacking of it's loose jaw.

"I guess that's your answer." Soul said, turning his arm into a scythe and slicing into it's chest. The sputters soon died out as Soul pulled a glowing, ethereal orb out of the hole he'd cut.

"Personally I don't mind it." He continued as he held the soul above his head. To Maka, it looked like he inspected it the same way she imagined a critic would scrutinize a work of art. "It means I get to snack on more of these." Soul grinned before he lowered the orb into his mouth and slurped it down with satisfaction.

Maka watched with a look of mild disgust. She still didn't understand the pleasure in eating a soul, especially one that had come from such a gross creature.

"We should get back to Shibusen." Was all that Maka said. Her attention had turned to the black silhouette that framed the night sky. _Is Crona still alive up there?_ Maka wondered. It was something she had often thought about since their battle with the Kishin. Crona had given away everything to help seal Asura away on the moon. It was sad, but in a way, she hoped that Crona had died up there. He deserved a rest.

"You're looking up at the moon again." Soul observed, who Maka now remembered was standing right next to her. "Are you thinking about Crona?" _How does he always do that?_ Maka wondered.

"Let's just get going." She said, brushing his question off. "Kid won't be happy if we're late again."

"Fine" Soul let it go. He'd learned not to push Maka when she wasn't in the mood to talk. Instead, he transformed into a winged scythe. Maka hopped on and together they shot off into the sky. Up in the air they could see Shibusen Academy's giant candle spires sticking out in the darkness. They weren't too far away, but Maka and Soul never shot down the chance to fly over Death City's breathtaking cityscape when it was lit up at night. After everything that had happened in the past month, it was comforting to see the city still in one piece.

* * *

"So, the witches have finally decided to grant our request for contact." Death the Kid mused. "Maybe they've finally realized that the clowns are as big of a problem as I warned." Kid sat in front of the large mirror in the Death Room. This realm of his father's creation was now his own base of operations for running Shibusen Academy. However, Kid had made several adjustments to the chamber to suit his tastes.

The normally empty room was now furnished with a couch and two chairs around a dark wood coffee table, which had been positioned in front of the mirror. Outside of the meeting circle was the usual scenery of a blue sky and crosses in the ground, however Kid had set up paper screens around his lounge so he didn't have to see it. The lack of symmetry distracted him too much from the important matters he had to attend to these days.

"The Witch Coven hasn't shown much concern for the outside world during the short time I've been here." Came a reply through the glass mirror. One of Kid's first acts as Shinigami had been to promote Kim Diehl to the position of ambassador to Maba-sama and the rest of her witches. Unfortunately Kim hadn't had much to report over the course of her stay in the Witch World. This was the first time they'd spoken in several days.

"As far as I can gather, the witches seem to be caught up in some internal affair. They keep telling me everything is fine but the way they act is strange. They're even more closed off than usual, and so far I haven't been able to figure out why." Kim sounded irritated, and Kid sympathized with her. Being constantly rejected by your own people couldn't be an easy thing to subject yourself to every day.

"So why are they suddenly willing to speak with me?" Kid asked her.

"I think it may be an act of desperation more than a gesture of good will." She hypothesized. "The witches are proud, so something very severe must have occurred to get them to reach out to Shibusen like this."

While she spoke a chime ran through the Death Room. The bell had been another one of Kid's additions to the room. It notified him when he had an appointment waiting.

"Well, I shall leave the detective work in your capable hands Miss Diehl, and I'll get back to you on that meeting soon. Be sure to tell Jaqueline I said hello." The feed from the Witch World slowly faded and soon Kid stared at his reflection in the mirror. Seeing the lines of Sanzu running perfectly across his combed hair brought a smile to his face.

"Ah, symmetry." He sighed, closing his eyes and relaxing his head back on the couch. Suddenly, he detected a buzzing in his ear. _Oh, my earpiece!_ Kid remembered. He tapped it lightly with a finger, activating it's magic and opening a speaking channel.

"This is Kid here."

"The Meisters you sent out are beginning to return. I've been directing them to the Death Room." Liz Thompson, Death the Kid's weapon and also now his personal assistant chimed in.

"Great! Then the meeting can commence soon. Make sure you and Pattie make it up here."

"Roger Kid. We'll be there." The line went dead and there was silence in the room once again.

"I wonder who will arrive first?" Kid wondered aloud to himself. Immediately after he said it,, a huge crash echoed through the chamber, followed by an enthusiastic "Wahoo!" coming from the entrance.

Kid rolled his eyes and sighed. "Dammit Black Star!"


	2. Chapter 2 Part 1

Soul Eater: Black Moon Chapter 2 Part 1

"Are you sure this is the right place Free? I don't like the look of this, ribbit."

"Quit your whining." Free replied. "If you want to survive we're going to have to find work."

Night had fallen as Free lead Eruka into the seedy underbelly of Death City. Eruka had grown more and more nervous as she followed him closely through back alleys and down sidewalks lined with thugs and streetwalkers. The air was filled with an odd smoke that made her nose twitch. She felt way out of her comfort zone.

Free had finally stopped in front of an establishment labeled with a bright red neon sign that read "Blood Drinkers" along with a curved line underneath in the shape of two fangs.

Free turned to gauge Eruka's reaction and saw the obvious discomfort in her eyes.

"Relax." He tried to reassure her. "As long as you stick by me I won't let any harm come to you." He set a hand on her shoulder. Eruka's eyes brightened as she looked up at him.

"Besides," Free said, turning around and facing the entrance. "It's not like we've got anywhere else to go as long as that bitch Maba is looking for us. I can't believe the damn DWMA is working with her."

"It doesn't surprise me." Eruka snorted. "They're all a bunch of fools. If only Medusa hadn't been a fool herself, maybe her plan would have worked."

"What even was her plan? Beyond releasing the Kishin I mean."

"Beats me." Eruka followed Free through the swinging saloon doors of the bar. "I was too busy trying to stay alive."

Eruka looked into the dark room and tried to analyze the faces of the patrons that stared curiously from their booths at her and Free. She tried to return their looks of grim fascination with a steely gaze of her own, but she knew she probably didn't look very intimidating in her polka-dot dress and frog hat. Eruka hoped Free would be sufficient muscle to discourage anyone from messing with them.

Free strode up to the bar counter and pounded his fist lightly on it's wooden surface. The bar tender turned from his beer taps behind the counter and gave the pair a skeptical up and down with his beady eyes.

"We're looking for your postings." Free announced.

The man behind the bar nodded to the right. "They're in the back." He grumbled, turning away quickly to fill up drinks.

Free walked around to the right side of the bar with Eruka close behind and found a doorframe that lead into a small hallway with several closed doors branching off on both sides. Both walls of the narrow passage were covered in wanted posters. Free began to browse though them, and a moment later Eruka decided she should probably do the same.

Most of the posters were for rough-looking outlaws and murderers. They all seemed to have some odd deformity and a row of rotting teeth in their picture. Only a few stood out to Eruka at first glance. One had a drawing of a strange looking alien thing. The text at the bottom read: "The Holy Sword Excalibur; WANTED for calling the Duke of Winchester a 'Fool', infiltrating into the Royal Palace without invitation, and being a huge pain in the ass."

Eruka's eyes shifted away from that bounty before she even got to the reward. She grabbed the other two that she'd noticed off the wall and held them up for Free.

"What about either of these?" She asked him. One had a photo of a pear-shaped man in a diving suit who was labeled 'The Fisher King' and the other was a handsome, pale, clean shaven gentleman who had looked equally out of place on the wall. When Free turned and saw the papers Eruka held, his eyes narrowed and he grabbed the one of the pale man. He stared at it, reading over the details of the bounty.

"This is the one." Free decided. "Dracula's had it coming for years."

"Dracula? Who is that?" Asked Eruka.

"Damn" Free chuckled at Eruka's naivety. "don't you know anything about the monster world? Dracula is practically the father of all vampires, and one of the biggest bastards I've ever met. The sooner I can sink my claws into him the better." He smiled.


	3. Chapter 2 Part 2

Soul Eater Chapter 2 Part 2

"Hey Tsubaki! Have you ever noticed how sharp these guillotines are?" Black Star yelled as loud as he could from his perch on top of one of the Death Room's arches despite him being only several yards away from his raven-haired Demon Weapon. She simply smiled and poured another cup of tea for Kid.

"Yes, they look very dangerous Black Star. Maybe you should get down?" Tsubaki said calmly, still smiling. Meanwhile, Kid was the opposite of calm. He didn't even take notice of the tea Tsubaki had poured him as he sat twisted on the couch with his hands gripping it's back and his eyes nearly popping out of his head, clearly imagining the potential disaster Black Star posed to the symmetrical arches.

"Isn't this tea wonderful Kid?" A bead of sweat ran down Tsubaki's forehead as she tried to distract him from Black Star, who was now swaying back and forth on the guillotine.

"This feels kinda unstable!" Black Star bellowed, causing Kid to cringe.

Along with Black Star and Tsubaki, many others had arrived and were engaged in various conversations around the room. Of course Dr. Stein and Ms. Marie had been invited to the meeting. Spirit Albarn had engaged both of them in a deep parenting discussion. Marie was listening intently, but Stein simply twisted the screw in his head absently and rolled his eyes occasionally, going so far as to comment that he had been more involved as a father-figure to Maka than Spirit had, and knew more about parenting than he ever would. It took a great deal of comforting from Ms. Marie to keep Spirit from breaking into tears after that.

Kilik, along with his partners Fire and Thunder, had entered just recently, careful to go around the arch that Black Star was shouting from. They had walked over to Ox and Harvar, likely boasting about the number of clowns they had hunted down today.

Kid had not invited Meister Sid Barret or Weapon Mira Naigus to the meeting because both of them had their respective night classes to teach, however Azusa was present and had promised to fill them in afterward.

The only people they were waiting on now were Liz and Patty, and Maka and Soul, who all happened to enter in together. The door into the Death Room swung open as Liz proudly lead the way.

"Soul and Maka are the last of them Kid!" She proclaimed as she entered with Meister and Death Scythe in tow.

"Don't forget me sis!" Came a sudden yell from behind them, causing Liz to jump.

"Ah ah ah! Two for flinching!" Patty said popping out from behind Soul with a satisfied grin from ear to ear. She skipped by a now flustered Liz and made sure to give her sister two bruising punches on the arm as she passed.

"Whoa, there's a rope up here!" Black Star exclaimed from above as Liz passed underneath him. Impulsively, he yanked on the release, causing the gulliotine to drop with a 'shink'.

"What the hell Black Star?!" Liz yelled, clearly shaken after nearly being chopped in half. "You could have killed me!"

"Eh sorry." He mumbled, leaping from his perch and rolling to his feet. "That's an easy fix right Kid?"

For a moment, Kid looked as though he was ready walk up and strangle Black Star on the spot, however after taking a _very_ deep breath he was able to calm himself.

"I-It's Fine." He choked on the words. He gave a nervous wave to Liz, who looked utterly furious at Black Star. "It's all fine."

Finally Liz huffed and stepped over the metal blade that was now stuck in the ground. Patty let out a giggle and Liz glared at her.

"Nice going Black Star." Soul said as he and Maka walked behind Liz through the arch.

"Hey at least me and Tsubaki weren't late." Black Star goaded. "What took you guys so long?"

"We took the scenic route." Soul joked. "And don't you know that arriving on time ain't cool?" Black Star scoffed at that.

"Well, everybody's here so we can get this thing going right?" Kilik said, walking over to Soul and Maka and giving Soul a fist bump.

"Aptly put Kilik." Death the Kid agreed as he stood up from his seat and gestured for Tsubaki to do the same. "Though there isn't enough seating in my lounge, so let me see if I can whip up something a bit more accommodating of everyone." It took several moments of concentration on Kid's part to make the furniture disappear and have a long table materialize in it's place.

"You've already learned how to use the chamber's spacial magic without any instruction? Impressive." Dr. Stein praised.

"Please, everyone take a seat. We have a lot to discuss." Kid said smiling, intentionally not mentioning that this had been his first attempt at such a feat.

Kid sat at the head of the table, with Liz and Patty claiming the seats to the right and left of him, and from there people filled in the seats all the way down to the other end of the table where the magic mirror was positioned.

"The first order of business today," Kid began. "is a rather straightforward matter, though it may come as a surprise to some of you."

Everyone's eyes were on Kid, waiting as he paused for dramatic effect.

"Spit it out already!" Black Star said impatiently. Kid rolled his eyes.

"Now that Asura has been sealed once again, I've come to the logical conclusion that Spartoi should be disbanded."

Everyone took a moment to think that over, but in the end they all agreed with Kid's decision.

"However, that doesn't mean your jobs are done. We may not be fighting a war anymore, but the world has been left in a chaotic mess. If Sibusen is to continue with me as it's leader, I'm going to need all of your help as I learn to take on the responsibilities of a Shinigami."

"We're here for you Kid." Maka spoke out from the right side of the table. Next to her, Soul nodded encouragingly.

Kid smiled in thanks. "I'm grateful for your support. I hope that everyone else is on board as well?" Without a moment of hesitation, everyone at the table nodded their heads in agreement.

"Good, then I want to welcome all of you into my inner circle. If our united efforts are successful, then we can pave a way to peace in this world. I have faith that if we put our strengths together, we can conquer any obstacle." Kid sat back, happy with the way his speech had gone.

"So, this is the council you have been planning?" Spirit spoke up from his seat on the left next to Liz. He had heard Kid mention something about it as the leadership around the academy had shifted with the loss of Lord Death. "A collection of Shibusen's best meisters and weapons to help support you. It sounds like a good idea to me."

"It's not just a council." Kid corrected. "Though I would love to fix the world's problems simply by meeting here, I'm going to need all of you out in the field to get things done. In short, you're going to be Shibusen's special forces. You'll take the missions that are too dangerous to send regular students on. I'm calling it the Death Squad. What do you think?"

"I think you topped Spartoi with that name there." Soul said. "You can definitely count me in. When do we start?"

"You're first mission briefings have been delivered to your homes, so as soon as your ready. I've paired you up into groups of threes and fours based on your skills. Soul, you and Maka will be paired with Kilik, Fire, and Thunder."

Soul and Kilik high-fived from across the table.

"Ox and Harvar will be with Black Star and Tsubaki,"

"Aw, why'd you have to pair me with the nerds!" Black Star whined jokingly, which caused Ox and Harvar to glare at him from the end of the table.

"Azusa will be with Sid and Mira."

"Got it!" Azusa responded snappily.

"And finally, Stein and Marie will be partnered with Spirit. Any questions?"

Spirit was the first to speak. "Though I can fight on my own Kid, I don't know how much help I'll be without a meister, are you sure you want me in the field?"

Kid winced. He had been dreading this question. "That wont be a problem. I've already found you a meister. She agreed to try to work with you again."

"Who-wait." Spirit had a puzzled look on his face as he tried to process what Kid's ambiguity meant. "So you.. Oh no..."

The door to the Death Room suddenly swung open and a chilly gust of air blew into the room. A silver haired woman strode in with a smug expression on her face, she lost a bit of her composure when she had to step over the guillotine blade stuck in the ground, but she still resonated confidence to everyone in the room as she walked with authority.

"Shimigami-sama." She bowed politely. "It's good to finally meet the new lord of Death."

"The pleasure is all mine." Kid replied. "Though I know many of you know her already, allow me to introduce you to Kami Nakamura, one of the most talented meister's to grace this academy."

The woman first looked to the left side of the table where Stein, Marie, Azusa, and Spirit were sitting. "It's also good to see my colleagues again." She smiled to them then added somewhat under her breath, "Even you Spirit".

She then looked to the right, making eye contact with Maka. Kami smiled affectionately.

"Hi mom." Maka said.

"Aw hell." Spirit groaned.


	4. Chapter 3

Soul Eater: Black Moon Chapter 3

"Well, that was interesting.." Soul broke the silence as he walked down the long front steps of the DWMA building with Maka.

"Uh, yeah.." Maka trailed, trying to find her words. The appearance of her mother at the academy had taken her completely by surprise. It wasn't that she was unhappy to see her again, in fact she was overjoyed that she was back after so long, but for some reason the whole situation seemed to make everything unspeakably awkward, especially between her and Soul.

"So.." Soul continued to prod her with conversation. "Your mom seems cool." Maka looked back at Soul and smiled uncertainly. Why was discussing her parent with her weapon partner so uncomfortable? She had never had trouble venting about her annoying father to Soul before, why was it weird to talk about her mother?

"Yeah, I guess so." Maka finally said. "I can't believe Kid convinced her to work with Papa again. Things just seem to be getting stranger and stranger around here."

"Hey, but look on the bright side, we got promoted today!" Soul grinned, trying to cheer her up. "Maybe that means we don't have to take anymore dull classes." He said, making Maka laugh.

It was a short walk back to their apartment and they finished the rest of it in silence. When they arrived at their door, Soul knocked, hoping that he didn't have to go searching under the plant next to it for the extra key. After waiting several seconds, he looked into the peephole impatiently. His eye was met with the naked form of their flatmate Blair barely concealed by a towel.

"Ah shit!" Soul jumped back and fell head-first to the concrete. A moment later a fully dressed Blair answered the door.

"Oh my, what happened?" She cooed with a knowing smile on her face. Maka simply rolled her eyes at their antics.

Soul picked himself up and entered their apartment behind Maka. As he walked inside he wiped the blood from his nose and muttered "Damn you." to an amused Blair.

As soon as they got in, Maka crashed exhausted on the couch in the living room and Soul went poking around the refrigerator for food.

"Hey Blair, what'd you do with the mail?" Soul called while balancing several plates of leftovers in his arms.

"Oh, I already opened it!" Blair replied.

"You opened it!?" Maka perked up. "Blair, that's top secret!"

"And how was I supposed to know that?" She said indignantly, walking the mail over to Soul and tossing it on his pile of food.

"It say's so right here on the envelope!" Soul set down his food on the coffee table and seated himself on the floor in front of it. He pulled the contents out of the clawed end of the envelope and began to read. Maka slid over on the couch and looked at it from over his shoulder.

"A reconnaissance of Transylvania?" She questioned as she stared at the paper.

"There's been a lot of disappearances there lately." Blair spoke up. Maka and Soul both looked up at her puzzled.

"I read it in the report!" She defended, transforming into a cat, padding over and curling up next to Maka on the couch.

"We can take a closer look at it tomorrow." Soul said, setting it aside and moving to the next piece of mail. He glanced at it for a moment before he tossed it to the side as well.

"What was that?" Maka asked him.

"Uh, just junk." He replied. "I'll throw it away."

"Wow Soul I never took you for a liar." Blair butted in, stopping Soul in his path to the trashcan. "That was an invitation to a dinner with your family wasn't it?" 

Soul groaned. "Why do you have to meddle in other peoples business?"

"Just dinner? Why don't you want to go Soul?" Maka said curiously. Soul's family had always been a complete mystery to her. He had barely even ever acknowledged that he had one. "It sounds like fun."

"Trust me Maka, it would not be fun. It would be another one of the parties my parents love to throw for other stuck up people. They have 'em all the time."

"You don't know that." She said, standing up. "We should go."

"We?"

"Yeah." She giggled "So you have someone to bail with if it's boring!"

"Uh, I don't know Maka." Soul told her apprehensively.

"Oh come on, stop being ridiculous and go!" Blair chimed in again. Maka looked at Soul with pleading eyes.

"Fine." Soul gave in. "I guess you were going to meet my family at some point anyway. Maybe it's best that a bunch of snotty people will be around to keep them semi-occupied.."

It suddenly dawned on Maka that maybe Soul was as awkward about his family as she was about her mother. She wanted to reassure him that she was excited to meet them, but before she could, there was a knock at their apartment door.

Maka stayed on the couch and began to stroke Blair's black fur as Soul went to answer the door.

"Mrs. Nakamura!" She heard Soul say from the hall. "Please come in." A moment later Soul ushered Maka's mother into their living room.

"Mama, what are you doing here?" Maka asked politely, standing up. She and Soul had just warmed up. She hoped this wouldn't make things awkward again.

"I just came to see my daughter." She smiled. Kami picked up on Maka's trepidation. "And to meet her friends."

"I'm Soul." Soul introduced himself. "Maka's weapon partner."

"It's nice to finally meet you Soul!" Kami stuck out a hand for Soul to shake, which took him by surprise. Soul noted her strong grip as they shook. It reminded him of Maka's.

"Please, take a seat." Soul gestured her to the couch next to Maka, then went to sit down in the chair.

"Have you talked to Papa yet?" Maka asked as her mother sat down next to her.

"No, not yet. I think he probably needs some time alone." Kami laughed. "He seemed quite shaken. The look he had on his face when I walked in was priceless!"

"Are you really going to try to partner with him again?" Maka wondered.

"Well, Kid asked for a favor and I didn't want to turn him down. He obviously needs as much help as he can get right now." Kami replied seriously. "As long as your father can behave himself I'm sure things will work out fine." She brushed a hand through Maka's hair and smiled motherly.

"Now, that's enough about me and Papa. I want to hear all about how you and Soul stopped the Kishin."

Maka recounted to her mother the battle that had taken place on the moon. About how they had first fought through Asura's unending army of clowns and how Maka had combated Asura with her strong anti-madness wavelength. Soul interjected every once and a while to fill in details. Like how Black Star and Kid had created the opening for Maka and Soul to directly attack the Kishin and enter his madness.

"Really, we didn't beat the Kishin." Maka admitted as she reached the end of the story. "Crona was the one who helped us lock Asura in the black blood. Without Crona, we never could have sealed him away." 

"You two were so brave to do what you did." Kami encouraged. "Don't downplay that."

Maka smiled. "I'm so happy you're back mama." She said, giving her mother a hug.

"Me too." Kami returned the hug for a moment then stood. "Well, it's getting late. I should probably go." She began to walk to the door. Soul and Maka followed her, with Blair padding behind them.

"It was nice meeting you Soul, good luck on the mission you two." She turned before heading out the door. "And Blair," Blair transformed back into her human form. She put her arms around Maka and Soul and squeezed them together. "Keep your eye on them!"

After Kami left, Soul shrugged Blair's arm off his shoulder. "You know Maka's mom?" He asked, surprised.

"Oh yeah, me and her go way back!" Blair smiled, turning and walking back into the living room. "She thought I was a witch at first too!" She giggled.


	5. Chapter 4 Part 1

Soul Eater: Black Moon Chapter 4 Part 1

"So, this is the realm of the witches?" Ox spoke in a low voice. Though he knew he needed to keep his head down and not draw attention to himself, he couldn't help but gawk at the giant city in front of him. He, Harvar, Tsubaki, and Black Star stood at a huge, gothic, iron gate that opened into the city.

"Where are we supposed to meet Kim?" Tsubaki asked as the gates swung open for them and they walked into a commons area filled with shops and stalls that people were buzzing around. The city felt old and lived in, and it was all quite alien to the four newcomers. The buildings curved and contorted over the DWMA agents heads and loomed over them, making it seem as if every brick and wood beam had eyes that were watching their every move.

Ox pulled a map from his cloak and examined it's layout. He'd gotten a full blueprint of the witches city from the Shibusen Library. Ox hadn't known how much it would help them considering it was centuries old, but seeing it now, he was struck by how little the witches had changed their city.

"We are currently in the Gaijin District, the section of the city open to non-witches, and home to any magically-inept descendants of witch clans."

"They don't let them live with their family if they can't use magic?" Tsubaki interrupted. "That seems unfair."

"Yeah! Talk about a superiority complex!" Black Star chimed in with a grin, causing eye rolls from everyone else.

"Kim's embassy residence is somewhere in this area." Ox finished, circling the district on the map with his finger. "Kid said she'd be waiting outside for us."

Death the Kid had asked the group of four to stay after the meeting in the Death Room so he could brief them on their mission personally. Once everyone else had left, including a frantic Spirit and a chuckling Stein, Kid had filled them in on the situation in the Witch World. Kim had been handling the political relations with the witches as well as she could, but Kid needed to have eyes beyond the boundaries of her role as ambassador. To put it clearly, Kid needed spies.

"The witches finally promised to meet with me, but I've decided I need a better perspective on the affairs going on before I speak with them. Kim has reported that there is a council meeting of all the most esteemed witch clans in Maba's castle tomorrow evening. I need you to be there."

However getting in wasn't going to be easy. On such short notice, Ox had no idea what the guard rotation in the palace was like, how many witches would be in attendance, or even what the layout of the palace was. These things didn't seem to bother Black Star much. Ox doubted that he would have taken time to prepare even if it had been given to him. Sometimes, secretly, he envied such simplicity. Right now though, it would have been nice to at least have a clue of what they were getting in to.

"Hey, it's Jackie." Havar pointed out, distracting Ox from his mental struggle. Their friend, Jacqueline O'Lantern Dupré, stood out easily in the crowd of rather normal looking day-to-day citizens in her navy blue blazer, skirt and dark-shaded sunglasses. They all headed in her direction, but before they could make their way much closer on the busy street she quickly turned around and rushed into the building she had been standing in front of.

"Dammit we missed her!" Black Star growled under his breath. "Can't you stupid people move you're butts any faster?" The pedestrians that heard this rude comment gave the four of them disdainful looks, which everyone except Black Star tried to avoid by tugging their cloaks in closer. He flipped down his hood and stuck his tongue out at them.

Eventually, they were standing in front of the building that Jacqueline had entered. They were cringing as Black Star finished his last insult: "Yeah! You better keep on stepping!" He yelled over his shoulder.

"She had to have seen us coming a mile away. She knew our disguises." Tsubaki sent through her soul wavelength. "Also, why haven't we been communicating with our soul wavelengths this whole time?"

"Beats me. This lack of a plan is really working well so far isn't it?" Harvar complained sarcasticly.

"Hey, we just need to find Kim and we can figure this out." Ox replied through their wavelengths, placing a hand on Harvar's shoulder. He looked up at the sign above the building's door. It read "Inn" in plain letters, and the "I" on the sign was crooked. It was built similar to the rest of the city, in a jagged, gothic style, however it was even more rundown and creepy-looking than the rest of the outer city.

"The witches put Kim and Jacqueline in a place like this when Maba lives in a castle?" Tsubaki questioned.

"It just shows how seriously the witches take our advances toward peace." Harvar sighed.

"Are you guys having a staring contest with that sign or somethin'?" Black Star interrupted, speaking out loud.

"Black Star... Can't you hear our wavelengths?" Ox looked away from the sign and back at him puzzled.

"Look, I can sync my soul energy with Tsubaki just fine." Black Star explained. "But when we do this 'group synchronization thing'" He said using air quotes. "It's just not worth lowering my wavelength enough to sync with you guys."

Ox sighed. "Let's just go find Jacqueline and Kim." This mission was starting to agitate nerves quicker than even Ox had predicted. He needed to take Black Star more into account in his next calculation.

They walked through the double doors into the inn. The lobby was poorly lit by flickering gas lamps. Tacky, patterned wallpaper was peeling off and revealing dents in the wall. An aged, wart-covered hag sat at a desk with mail slots and a room key rack behind her. Ox hurried down one of the halls before the elderly woman could ask him what he was doing. The less contact they had with the people here, the safer they would be.

As he walked down the dank corridors, he realized he wasn't sure what exactly they were looking for. If Jacqueline had closed the door to their room on her way inside, how were they supposed to know where the meister and weapon pair were? He supposed he could search for their wavelengths. He was familiar enough with their souls to hopefully pick them out in a crowd, but before he could try he found what he was looking for.

One of the room's doors in the hall around the corner was ripped wide open. Ox rushed down to check it out, with Tsubaki, Harvar, and finally Black Star behind him. Inside, Jacqueline was on her knees in the middle of the wrecked room. Window curtains had been torn down, a dresser and its drawers had been turned on it's side, and a mirror on the wall had been shattered. Drops of drying blood in the carpet trailed from the broken glass to the doorway and down the hall.

Jacqueline turned at the sound of quickly approaching footsteps. Her eyes transitioned through emotions as her brain processed what was happening, first fear at who was coming, then relief that it was friends, then sadness. A tear streamed down her cheek.

"Someone took Kim."


End file.
